The odds are good you’ve never seen a dumb waiter quite like the one in the Sandy Hill residence of Sri Lankan High Commissioner Madukande Asoka Kumara Girihagama. In fact, at first glance, you might mistake the wood-panelled beauty concealed behind a white interior door as an elevator for short people who don’t suffer from claustrophobia. But then Girihagama’s wife, Sudarma Kumarihamy Girihagama, points out the two horizontal wood bars on the interior walls, and exclaims, “You can put the tray of food there and send it up!”
Her delight in the device — which goes from the main to the second storey, but no longer operates — is obvious. However, it’s far from the only delightful aspect of the large home at 28 Range Rd., with its soft blue exterior, centre hall plan and view of Strathcona Park and the Rideau River beyond.
The large, warm-toned living room, just off the spacious foyer, anchors the residence’s public space.
“This is the gathering area. When our guests come in, we greet them here,” says the high commissioner. “During the national day (in February), it has become a celebration hall: We set up a podium here and I talk to the Sri Lankan community.”
Sri Lanka purchased the home in 1965, 12 years after it established diplomatic relations with Canada. The wood-panelled main wall in the living room, with built-in book shelves and a fireplace, along with the deep wood trim throughout the home, speak to the residence’s origin in the region’s lumber trade. Designed by the architectural firm of Burritt & Kingston, the house was built in 1924 for J.R. Booth Jr., grandson of lumber king J.R. Booth.
Girihagama, his wife and their 17-year-old daughter, Thiyara, began their posting here last fall after serving in Oman, and they take pride in detailing the many personal items that lend extra warmth and interest to the main room.
Traditional Sri Lankan furniture, much of it made of ebony and some of it antique, surrounds the space in a large semi-circle. Floral carving and swirling designs characterize it. “In Sri Lankan carving, there are a lot of curves and floral lines,” says Thiyara, adding that the written version of Sinhala, one of the national languages of Sri Lanka, is itself full of curves and swirls.
On one wall stand two large sethasas, or umbrellas, and two spears. Both were used by guards to protect the last Sri Lankan monarch, Vikrama Rajasinha, who surrendered his power to the British Empire in 1815. The king’s deposition also meant the end of the long line of monarchs from the country’s central hill region of Kandy, where the high commissioner and his family are from.
Along another wall, one sees patras, large antique brass bowls once used by Buddhist monks to collect alms.
A procession of small, intricately detailed elephants and camels marches across the fireplace mantel. At the front, decked out in finery, is an elephant representing the animal that leads the annual parade in Kandy, part of a week-long cultural celebration in August. The real-life version of the elephant carries a replica of the sacred tooth of the Buddha, says Girihagama.
Elsewhere in the home, more Sri Lankan elements abound. Thiyara, who is entering her final year at Ashbury College and already possesses the savoir faire of the diplomat she intends to become, points out two metallic reliefs on a foyer wall. They are loaded with mangoes, flowers, lions, elephants, peacocks and snakes — all common ingredients in Sri Lankan art and decor, she says.
She also encourages her mother to show visitors some richly coloured jewelry that’s been passed down through the generations on both sides of the family. “The thing with Sri Lankan antiques,” says Thiyara, with a mix of sorrow and practicality, “is that the British took much of the jewelry. You can still find it in auctions in the U.K.”
In the dining room, there’s a display of dishware, some of it collected from the Czech Republic when the family was posted to Vienna in the mid-1990s, shortly after Girihagama joined Sri Lanka’s foreign service. The dining room, with its view of Strathcona Park, seats 12. Dinner guests can look forward to dishes of yellow rice, chicken curry and eggplant followed by desserts including potato toffee (unexpected but delicious, as we discovered during our visit).
The main floor of the residence also includes a cosy parlour and a solarium with double French doors that’s used in the warmer months.
The high commissioner’s small, close family is united in its fondness for older homes.
“We like this home very much because of its antiquity, but we have to repair it from time to time,” he says, referencing recent exterior renovations and a kitchen modernization.
Older homes are charming, says his wife. “I do my functions with the ladies here — the coffee mornings, the lunches.”
“There’s something timeless about this house,” adds Thiyara. “This is where it all happens, where [a high commissioner] comes and builds relationships with other officials, entertains and builds his reputation in the country he’s in. It’s the tool in the diplomat’s tool box.”
Patrick Langston is an Ottawa writer who dreams of living in a manor.
